2. The World Today
If the earth’s population was 100 people, there would be:
52 females and 48 males
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth - all 6 would be from the US
80 would live in substandard housing
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would own a computer
70 would be unable to read
1 (yes, only one) would have a college education
Indus Conference 95b

3. Literacy Rates Worldwide
Source: UNICEF 1999
Indus Conference 95b

4. Where Does India Stand? Indus Conference 95b
Source: Calculated from census data
Indus Conference 95b

5. Disparity in literacy 100% 50% 0% 62% 30% 11% 7% 9% 3% Male Female
45%
62%
30%
11% 7% 9% 3% 0%
50%
100%
Literate
Below Class 5
Beyond Class 10
Male
Female
Current figures:
37.7 percent of the female population and 65.5 percent of the male population, age 15 and over, can read and write. Source: Web address: from the official website of the Indian Embassy in Washington DC

6. The Vicious Cycle
Lack of
Education
Dependence
Poverty

7. HOW?
Can we do something…
…to make a DIFFERENCE ?

8. Over 400 active volunteers in over 40 chapters
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever does”
- Margaret Mead
At most major universities
At most large metro
Satellite Chapters paired with mentor chapters
Over 400 active volunteers in over 40 chapters
Beginning in Berkeley , to

9. “To catalyze socio-economic change in India
MISSION STATEMENT
“To catalyze socio-economic change in India
through the education of underprivileged children”

10. - Over $ 1.5 Million in 10 years
Funds Raised
Funds Disbursed
- Over $ 1.5 Million in 10 years
Raised
Disbursed
200000
400000
600000
800000
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Over $1 million
raised in 2000

11. Raising Funds and Awareness
Individual Donations
Individual Donations
Asha Merchandise
Don’t forget to mention calendars…
Asha Merchandise

12. 8 weeks 1404 donors $102,000 pledged 5 projects History Year
Mention VOICE – Story (funded by WAH)
History
Year
Funds collected
Projects funded
1998
31,000 3
1999
54,000 4
2000
84,000 6

13. Harbingers of Hope – Runners for Education
A Marathon training program
Asha trains runners
Runners raise money for Asha from friends & family
Started in Year 2000
22 runners in Raised $ 85,000
45 runners in Raised $ 125,000
Previous Marathons:
Honolulu, Silicon Valley & Royal Victoria (Canada)
2002 Marathons:
Maui & Silicon Valley Marathons

14. Silicon Valley Marathon
October 28, 2001
(Cisco Way, San Jose)
Mile 8 of 26.2 miles !!
Runners’ Age :
22 – 62 years old
First time Runners :
More than 50 %
Larisse Dhillon (Honolulu Marathon – 2000) “I am very lucky to be well educated and I want to make a difference by helping to provide the opportunity of education to others. The training program is an excellent way for me to contribute to Asha because in addition to helping education in India, I am also helping myself to become a much healthier person."
Gujarat funds – Ashok Jain Asha Fellow – ferrocement technology to build homes in earthquake prone areas

15. Asha Events Stanford - Holi A Fun Cultural Event In 2001
Asha Stanford
We invite you to celebrate Holi tomorrow
Stanford Wilbur Field at 11:00 am
A Fun Cultural Event
First organized 4 years ago
Attended by 200 people
In 2001
Attended by 1100 people
Raised $12,000

16. Our Work Asha Projects: Urban/Rural Street Children
Sexually exploited children
Tribal Population
Migrant Laborers
Asha Stars

17. Our Work Asha Centers Asha Fellowship Legislative Awareness
83rd Amendment
NCERT curriculum
FCRA Regulations

18. BCT- Bhagavatula Charitable Trust
Vishakapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh for last 30 yrs
Led by Dr. Parameshawar Rao
Integrated rural development in 3 mandals
To achieve Universal Elementary Education (UEE) in the three mandals
Currently
103 full day non-formal education centers
Each with a maximum strength of 50 children and 2 teachers
5000 children, 10% in classes V – VII
The Future
Target to become 300 centers and children in 5 years.
Need help from outside agencies like Asha to build this scalable model

19. BCT- Bhagavatula Charitable Trust
A Scalable Model
After 30 yrs, BCT has a scalable model that it wants to replicate to reach as many communities as possible
Stage wise education curriculum
Central Administration for training and leadership
Involvement of villagers
5 yrs
Stage wise Education
Build Permanent Schools in villages
Set up a stage wise curriculum and resources in schools (e.g. pre school, primary, upper primary etc.)
Project Management and Resource center
Central Administration unit for all schools
Responsible for Teacher Training
Development of curriculum
Center for thought leadership on village animation
Village Animation
Training children to become catalysts in social change in their own villages
Involvement of villagers – formation of Village Education Societies (VES) for every village
Training villages towards self sufficiency in 5 yrs

20. Asha Center Lalpur, district Hardoi UP An experiment in education
Objectives:
Inculcate human values for a just human order,
Impart skills which will help an individual become self-reliant when he/she grows up.
Free education and health facilities to the villagers
The center is 60 KM from Lucknow.
The center is going to serve as a center for promoting the idea of a meaningful education program which will form the basis of a just human order as well as provide an environment where volunteers can come and learn. Various training programs and camps will be organized from time to time to develop ideas as well as promote skills development.
To strengthen the right kind of values for happy and satisfying human relationships Asha is developing its own curriculum. The first book ‘Muskaan’ is being tried at out at various centres associated with Asha.
Art and craft activities form an essential part of the education process.
Asha provides health service to the villagers of the area based on a combination of homeopathy, naturopathy, ayurveda and allopathy. Presently, a Hyderabad based company, through an Asha supporter Sudhakar Reddy in Lucknow, has sponsored homeopathic medicines for this village for a year. Modern medicine is too expensive and out of reach of most of the villagers.

21. Asha Center Activities
A workshop on alternative energy
Beekeeping
Innovative building technology
Health camps
A community development center
The village remains untouched by electricity grid and Asha is developing alternative energy solutions. In April, 2001, a workshop on alternative energy with focus on improved traditional ‘chulhas’ was organized at the Ashram. A peddle operated battery charging and water lifting device have been developed by another dedicated Asha supporter and innovator Ashok Jain
Beekeeping has been taken up quite successfully at the Ashram. A number of villagers have got trained in this activity at the Asha Beekeeping Training centre at Kaithi, Varanasi and through practical experience at Lalpur.
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Ashok Kumar Jain, a B.Tech. and M.Tech. in Aerospace Engineering from IIT, Kanpur, was doing his Ph.D. when he was challenged by his father, himself an engineer and a faculty member at the Institute of Engineering and Rural Technology in Allahabad, about his ability to do real hands-on kind of engineering work. He realized the limitations of his engineering training from one of the most premier engineering colleges of the world and decided to give it all up to pick up real engineering skills from the field. The sense of urgency was such that Ashok K. Jain did not even care to remove his belongings from his hostel room at IIT. Thus an innovator was born. Today Ashok K. Jain, the Aerospace engineer turned building expert runs his own establishment in Chinhat where he produces materials using ferro-cement technology.
The first health camp was organized in village Lalpur, the site of Asha Ashram, in March with Professor Ramakant, a surgeon associated with Lucknow’s Medical College. There was a big turnout. More than 125 patients, some coming from neighbouring villages, got themselves examined. Water borne diseases and protein-vitamin deficiencies were the most common things observed. According to Dr. Ramakant if the villagers started using boiled water for drinking and introduced some green vegetables and things like raddish and ‘sahjan’ in their diet they would be cured of half of their problems. It is noteworthy that common diet of the villagers include only potatoes so far as vegetables is concerned. Worms, fungal, skin related and T.B. are other common diseases afflicting the villagers. The state of health of the village is quite poor and it is emerging as one of the priority areas of work for Asha. Unfortunately, the villagers could not benefit from Dr. Ramakant’s visit. The medicines he had prescribed were either not available in the local markets or were too costly. Also, since the visit was made before harvesting, those villagers who were advised to go to Medical College for further treatment or surgery could not afford to go there. After this it became clear that the villagers could afford only homeopathic and ayurvedic medicines and whenever possible natural ways of treatment should be resorted to. The modern medicine system is simply beyond the reach of majority of Indians who live a life of poverty.
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The Ashram has become a public place in true sense. Enthusiastic children can always be seen there. The villagers prefer to spend their free time here. Most of the villagers are followers of Raidas and Kabir. Often there are singing sessions during evening meetings. There is no temple in the village. Neither do the villagers spend any time in ritual worshipping. Probably, in the struggle to ensure their basic suvival they do not have any time for this. Compared to the general situation in north India the village is relatively free of politicization. No dalit leader of significance has visited the village till now. There is not much interaction of the village with outside world, especially cities and the general knowledge of the villagers is quite poor.

22. Wireless Local Loop Objectives and Goals Technology
Asha and Prof. Jhunjhunwala’s Initiative
Wireless Local Loop
Objectives and Goals
Use technology to connect rural India, in particular Asha projects so that the experiences and knowledge from one project can be leveraged at other sites.
Technology
corDECT provides cost-effective, simultaneous high-quality voice and data connectivity in both urban and rural areas.This revolutionary new technology provides voice communication using 32 Kbps ADPCM, and Internet connectivity at 35/70 Kbps.

23. Pilot Project in Chennai
- 70% of India’s billion people live in small towns and villages
- telephone penetration level of less than 4%,
- 3 months to deploy an access tower
Access tower to serve 50 kiosks in 10 villages
Interconnect Asha schools
Replicable
Scalable
Enables wealth creation
Brings government-citizen-business access points closer

24. Ongoing Asha Stars Projects
Covering 10 Zones
13 Chapters

25. Guiding Principles 100% Volunteer-based Minimal Hierarchy
Non-political, non-religious
Zero overhead
Credibility is the focus

26. Our Hearts, Their Minds, One Hope
Less of this …
MORE of this …

27. Asha for Education www.ashanet.org/ pr@ashanet.org
All donations to Asha for Education are tax deductible under IRS code 501 (c ) 3.